Improved spike-machine



J.D. BRYSON an A. POTTER.

SPIKE MACHINE.

l Patented June -'3`0',""'1'868.

@einen tet gnent @Hina JAMES D. BRYSON AND ALONZO POTTER, OF' NEW CASTLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 79,442, dated June 30, 1868.

IMPROVED SPIKE-MACHINE.

llgt Stimuli rifarsi tu in there etims aient une making putt et the amie.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAYVCON CERN:

Beit known that we, JAMES D. BRYsoN and ALoNzo POTTER, of New Castle, in the county of Lawrence, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a.' new and improved Machine for Making Railroad-Spikes and we do hereby declare that the following is .a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to thenannexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 `isa. longitudinal vertical section through the line :c of iig-2.

Figure 2 is a top view.

In this invention s new device is employed for cutting off the rod before the point of the spike is formed, and an attachment is used to guide and carry the end of the rod to the die, anoperution which has hitherto 'been performed by hand, and in an inconvenient and exceedingly imperfect manner.

s In the drawings, A represents the frame ofthe machine, and B the horizontal table or platform on itsfront side, on which the iron rod from which the spikes are to be formed, lies during the operation ofv the machine. C is the main shaft, provided with a. fly-wheel, D, end E is the mould, in which the spike is formed. The rod, shown in red lines in fig. 2, is leiden the table in the position there represented, and the end of it is thrust by theoperator into the mould E. The moment it reaches the proper position@ cam, d, onthe ily-wheel, forces aslidi'ng cutter, F, against it and severe it, leaving the part that is to form the spike in the mould. As soon as the rod'is severed, the cam d releases the sliding cutter, which is instantly retracted by a spring, e. As soon as the sliding cutter is out ofthe way, the dies Gund that form the side undtop of the spike are actuated from the main shaft by means'of camsg and i, and levers g end li, respectively, and together shape and point" the body of the spike.' As soon as they have performed their occ, the header I,'operated by a cam, z', and lever J, forms the 'head of the spike. K is a sliding plate, working on the table B, and actuated by a cam, la, and lever L, which now moves forward, and by a projecting arm, m, forces thcspike ont from the mould, causing it to -drop into asreceptacle prepared for the purpose. The slide K is provided with another arm 1t, shorter than the first arm by about the width of a spike, which, as rsoon as the arm m has removed the old spike, pushes sideways the end of the rod that was cut off, bringing thatY end directly in front of the mould, so lthat the operator, by simplyshoving the rod forward, causes it to 'assume the propel' position for another out, to make another spike. O is an upright plate, between the two 'arms 'm and 1t, which guides and stendies the movtionof the plate K, and affords an abutment to guide the rod also when moving back 'to its place in front of the.dies, preparatory to the forming of a'n'ew spike. It is made of steel, and provided with a sharp sqhare edge, o, which assists the cutter F in severing the rod.

It will be observed that the arm n has an upright flange or lip, n', which sets -firmly against the side ofthe rod while the cutter is acting against the latter, lioldingthe rod firmly in place during the operation of severing it, and causing a clean, straight cut, without the bonding of the rotLat that point, which invariably tgakes place in all other machines, and which injures 'the rod so much as lfrequently to-prevent the next spike from being formed perfectly. l

lhe sliding plateK, with its arms m and n, is designed to obviate a very great diculty that-has been found to exist in machines for this purposehitherto in use. In none of these machines has there been any attachment for guiding the end of'therod to place after it was cut oii`but that operation has been left to be performed by hand, and usually trusted to"`boys.v The result has been that the operators frequently fail to bring the end of the rod to the proper position in season to ge't it underthe dies, and-a whole revolution of the shaft isthus lost,

the operator having to '.wait and try again nt the next revolution. And again, if by any means the old spiko were not pushed out, the operator could not sce it, and unmindful of the fact, he pushed the rod into place while the old spike was yet in position, and thereby the machine was broken. Such accidents are of frequent occurrence with the machines hitherto in use. Withsthis, however, such an accident cannot occur, for if from any cause the old spike should not be removed, the arm m will come .in contact with it, and will be arrested in its forward motion, thereby stopping the plate K and the arm n, and consequently not bringing the rod to its'place in front y of the dies, so that as lo'ngas the old'spike remains in place, the rod will not be moved.

When the plate K haslpushed the spine out of its bed or mould, and has brought the end of the rod into position to be readily thrust into plncelend agaiucut o' for a new spike, it is at once retracted by the action of a spring, le. a is o. spring, which retracts the die G, and a is another, which reti-acts the die H. The headingdie I may be retracted by an independent spring, or by a shoulder, r, on the side of the die H, as' seen in the drawings. i i A It will be observed that in forming the spike, the iron `will, by'compression, beelongated, so as to occupy more space than before the dies operate upon it, and inasmuch as' the heading-die prevents any elongation of vthe epike'in that direction, the whole of the elongation must take place at the point, which will be thrust forward alittle beyond the place where it was severed from the rpd.' The die H must therefore be made to project e. little in front of the plate O, asq seen at t, in order to operate upon every part of the-elongated spike. But when th'us projecting, said shoulder prevents the operating of the cutter F at the same timeY with the die H,

inasmuch as were the die not out of the way when the cutter performed its operation, the effect would be that 'the shoulder t would be cut off instead of the iron rod. To prevent this, therefore, we construct o'ur machine in such a manner that the cutter rst operates, and is then retracted entirely out of the Way, immediately after which the dies GH operate, and then thc header completing the spike, when the plate K pushes it out of the way, and brings the rod into po'sition for anew cut. The whole operation of the machine' is therefore exceedingly simple and perfect. It has been thoroughly tested on a large scale in the manufacture of spikes, and has been found to do the work 'in a superior manner.

Having thus described our invention', what we claim as new, and desire to secure b y Letters Patent, is 1. The sliding plate K, when provided withl the arms m and n, or their equivalents, in combination with cutter F and guide O, all arranged and'cperat/ng in the manner aud for the purpose set forth.

2. A slide or sliding 'arm n, arranged. on the bed of the machine, as described, in combination with its operative mechanism, for the purpose of moy/'ing the rod to position, substantially as described.

` JAS. D. BRYSON,

I ALONZO POTTER.

Witnesses:v

J. M. CRAIG,

C. A. PETTIT, J. B.REYNoLDs, 

